ORANGE CITY — All links-style golf courses hope to give players a hint of what it might feel like to play in a British Open, and some are more successful than others.

But with temperatures only slightly above freezing at tee time and whipping winds that howled close to 30 mph, Landsmeer Golf Club might as well have been located in the heart of Scotland yesterday.

Unprotected from trees, the wide open course left the players vulnerable to the elements at a Class 3A sectional tournament. Nothing came easy.

“It was definitely a grind out there,” Webster City senior Nathan Ferrell said after he posted a 5-over-par 76 to finish second and advance to next week’s district tournament at Spencer Country Club. “It’s a really nice course and it’s gettable on a normal day because it’s wide open, but with the wind it was really tough. I’m not going to say it’s the worst conditions I’ve ever played in, but it was definitely up there.”

Ferrell had hoped to be joined by his teammates at districts, but WCHS settled for fourth in the team standings with a 336, five shots in back of runner-up Spirit Lake (331). Spencer claimed the team title with a 319.

Only the top two teams advanced to districts.

“It was pretty disappointing to not make it as a team,” Ferrell said. “We thought the wind would help us because we were the underdogs a little bit. We definitely thought we had a chance.”

Ferrell, a two-time state qualifier and all-state player, isn’t usually thrilled unless he’s around par, but he was just happy to get off the course and advance yesterday. He hit just eight greens in regulation, but managed to eek out enough pars and sprinkle in a few birdies to stay near the top of the leaderboard.

“I didn’t hit the ball well at all, but scrambling around the greens, getting up and down for par, is what really saved me,” he said. “I’m not going to hash on this round … I didn’t swing great, but it doesn’t matter as long as you advance.”

Ferrell found himself at 2-over after just two holes following a double-bogey at the par-3 second. He followed it up with a birdie and made the turn at 2-over. He encountered another rough stretch on the back that included a bogey and double-bogey at Nos. 13 and 14. He again bounced back though with a birdie at 15 and he finished up with back-to-back pars.

Spencer’s Collin Slattery (75) nipped Ferrell by one stroke to claim the individual title. MOC-Floyd Valley’s Justin Schipper and Kyle Christy, as well as Spirit Lake’s Cameron Dau all shot 78 and shared third.

Drake Doering, a WCHS junior, tied for sixth following an 80. Doering put together a solid round that included nine pars and one birdie, but his hopes of advancing were stymied at the par-5 12th hole when he took a triple-bogey 8.

“Drake played really well,” Ferrell said. “In those conditions, an 80 was great.”

Trey Shannon was the only other WCHS player to break 90; he turned in an 89.

Trey Lyons added a 91, Garrett Arnold carded a 92 and Chase Rattenborg posted a 93.

Ferrell is familiar with the Spencer Country Club. He won the individual crown on the same course at the Spencer Invite earlier this season.

“It’s a course that really suits my game and I’m excited to go there,” Ferrell said. “I’ve always played well there.”

Class 3A Sectional Tournament

Thursday at Landsmeer Golf Club

Orange City

Team Standings

1. Spencer 319; 2. Spirit Lake 331; 3. MOC-Floyd Valley 332; 4. Webster City 336; 5. (tie) Humboldt and Storm Lake 362; 7. LeMars 376; 8. Algona 391.

Individual Leaderboard

1. Collin Slattery (SPE) 75; 2. Nathan Ferrell (WC) 76; 3. (tie) Justin Schipper (MOC), Cameron Dau (SPLA), Kyle Christy (MOC) 78.

Other Webster City Scores

Drake Doering 80, Trey Shannon 89, Trey Lyons 91, Garrett Arnold 92, Chase Rattenborg 93.